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Message #1889 of 6634  *NEW* To :   All From :   Jaydawg   Subject :   Dan Haren, chosen to play for the Netherlands, turns out to have NO Dutch heritage Date :   1/29/06, 12:45pm It turns out that Dan Haren's place of birth (Monterey Park, CA) didn't give him away. Haren himself did it by claiming his father's "100% Irish heritage" and his mother's "100% Mexican heritage". He expressed shock at having been chosen to play for the Netherlands in the first place and now says that he'll "probably" not compete in the WBC after all. This makes me wonder why the Netherlands chose Dan Haren for their provisional roster, not to mention why Haren didn't come forward sooner. After all, he was picked to play for the Dutch two weeks ago. Not good for both sides on this one. At least Mark Mulder was born in a place called South Holland. Seriously, the only Major League player who deserves a spot on Holland's roster is Andruw Jones, who was born in Curacao. Like Aruba, it's a Dutch controlled island. • Previous Topic • Next Topic • Reply to Msg #1889 • Back to Topics 3590 reads 1215 clickthrough(s) You cannot start a topic in the Headlines or Classifieds area... if you want to post a new message, try one of our other message areas! This message has been added to these BGEEKS Blogs: Diary of A Baseball Geek

Message #1890 of 6634  *NEW* To :   All From :   Jaydawg   Subject :   Re: Dan Haren, chosen to play for the Netherlands, turns out to have NO Dutch heritage Date :   1/29/06, 1:25pm (Last Edited: 1/29/06, 1:25pm) Dan Haren also claimed in the article that he was told by Holland officials that his surname has Dutch origin. Well, I just looked up the name Haren in the ancestry.com website. It turns out that Haren is an Irish name (true to his father's 100% heritage) and means "a long ridge or stony ground". I knew the name wasn't Dutch because I went to school with a guy named O'Haren. It's safe to say--by his own admission-- that Dan Haren has no Dutch heritage to speak of. Somebody should question the WBC officials in Holland on this one. Very suspicious.... • Previous Topic • Next Topic • Reply to Msg #1890 • Back to Topics 4532 reads

Message #1892 of 6634  *NEW* To :   Jaydawg From :   Reedster   Subject :   Re: Dan Haren, chosen to play for the Netherlands, turns out to have NO Dutch heritage Date :   1/29/06, 1:46pm (Last Edited: 1/29/06, 1:47pm) Very weird. Why didn't Haren speak up earlier? Who is in charge of looking into ancestry, and who messed up this badly? This kind of error makes a mockery of the games. I don't mind heritage being a factor (rather than citizenship), but PLEASE... at least get the heritage right. The Netherlands team, seeing Haren's last name and believing that it was of Dutch heritage... well, why couldn't they call the A's or speak to Haren directly and just ask: "Do you have Dutch heritage?" As much as I am sure the MLB and the WBC organizers will try and downplay this, I think this is incredibly embarrassing for all involved. • Previous Topic • Next Topic • Reply to Msg #1892 • Back to Topics 4531 reads

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